Meet the artist who invited us into her Brooklyn studio.
It’s a tough time to be a rebel. There’s not a lot we haven’t seen, and anything we might wish to see, or dream up, is less than a click away. What’s an iconoclast to do? Making something is a good start. Real things, not just content, can exist in the world, turning heads and changing minds. These 10 creatives—all in Chanel Fine Jewelry for this portfolio—might not have permanent solutions, but they are just getting going. What they’ve accomplished so far sets them apart and raises the bar for what’s next.
Anna wears Boy-Friend watch by CHANEL Watches, Coco Crush quilted motif rings in 18k yellow gold and beige gold, and Coco Crush quilted motif bracelets in 18k yellow gold, beige gold, and white gold by CHANEL Fine Jewelry
ANNA PARK
ARTIST
Instagram: @annaparkart
Artists will typically attribute their success to a mentor, a teacher, their upbringing, or lack thereof; Anna Park’s backstory involves a party. “Credit to the [New York] Academy of Art, because of the gala,” she says. In 2019, Park, as a student, participated in the open studios for the invitees of The TriBeCa Ball. She struck Insta gold when the evening’s honoree, Kaws, posted Park’s charcoal and ink drawings to his feed. “It kicked off this frenzy,” she says.
This spring, Park—who has since shown from New York to China and is represented in major institutions like the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston—will unveil a solo show at Lehmann Maupin in central London on April 30. Her work is influenced by retro comics, stemming from the first drawings she absorbed as a child. She likes the opposition of “the vixen” versus “the vivacious blonde” as characters (“They’re fighting against each other, but then they realize they have to work together in order to survive in this crazy world”), but has also come to see them as “vessels for my own self-portrait.”
For this new exhibition, she’s added more sculptural elements and color, which she believes benefited the work’s subjects: circus men and magicians who explore “the illusion of what you present versus what you keep back.” Nothing, it seems, is holding Park back. “Life is short, and I want to do this until I’m 90-something and a grumpy, tattooed grandma, saying: ‘At least I tried, even if it was fucking chaotic.’”
Taken from 10 Magazine USA Issue 6 – CHANGE, CREATIVITY, FREEDOM – out March 18th! Order your copy here.
THE NEW MAKERS
Photographer CARLOS RUIZ
Talent TONI CORNELL, TIFFANY HOWELL, GABRIELLE RICHARDSON, DEVONN CHARLES FRANCIS, LAURA ZHENG, AVA PEARLMAN, ANNA PARK, ELIZABETH KOURY, ARMANDO AGUIRRE, and ELLEN HARROLD
Text JOHN ORTVED
Instagram: @jortved
